Memories of sensei: Part 2
Continued from Part 1 : I mentioned in my previous post that my teacher, Bob Davies, is an "old-school" teacher. I'm not sure how he teaches nowadays, but certainly my early years of training with him were underlined with a kind of discipline that would probably meet with grave consternation in today's Australia. Well do I remember his shinai stick (a split bamboo sword used in kendo) - affectionately named "Suzuki No. 2" 1 - which he used as a "motivator" during heavy sessions. Students who were flagging would, without warning, receive a crack across the back or the legs - whereupon they would "miraculously" find a second wind. As I have said, this kind of disciplining method might be frowned upon today in the bulk of the developed world, but in the South Africa I knew, it was de rigueur . Caning was quite commonplace in schools for any number of "offences" ranging from not completing homework to "wagging"/"...